Bay Area officials are calling on Congress to provide emergency relief for restaurants, warning of permanent restaurant closures and "catastrophic" impacts on the economy.
In a letter signed by 25 current and former mayors across the country, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff and San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin said the omicron variant is creating a massive strain on local restaurants.
Without Congress acting urgently, 86% of independent restaurants that didn't receive grants from the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund risk permanently closing, officials said.
As staff test positive for COVID-19, Bay Area restaurant owners are abruptly having to shut their doors. "Restaurants and bars are months beyond struggling, they are dying in plain sight," the letter stated, estimating that 90,000 restaurants have closed during the pandemic nationwide.
Over 100,000 restaurants received $28.6 billion in help last year through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, however, about 177,000 applicants were denied funding, according to the letter.
"It is not fair for the government to pick winners and losers," the mayors said.
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